Medicare Supplements and Advantage Plans

The Baron Group offers Medicare supplement and Medicare Advantage plans from most of the top insurance companies. We strive to put the customer in the highest quality product that best fits their financial and health care needs. In determining the right products to offer consumers, we select companies that have strong and trusted brand names, strong financial ratings, and very competitively priced products.

Medicare offers several different types of plans. Although all plan types are not necessarily available in every area, everyone enrolled in Medicare has a choice of at least one other type of plan in addition to Original Medicare. Depending on where you live, you may have different options.

What are some of the available options?

The first option you have when you first enroll in Medicare is to stick with your Original Part A Coverage. Part A is hospital insurance and, as the name would suggest, it covers expenses incurred from hospital visits. Many people choose this option when they are still working and receiving healthcare benefits from their employer. Part A does not have a monthly premium associated with it, so this option is very inexpensive. There is, however, a downside. Part A coverage will leave you paying for the full cost of any medical treatment outside of a normal hospital visit. That means you’ll pay in full for all your doctor visits, prescription drugs, and any other medical necessities outside of a hospital. This is why many people opt for a part B in addition to part A.

Part B is your Medical coverage. Things like doctor visits, medical tests, and preventive treatments fall under Part B coverage. It does require a small monthly premium, but that is deducted from your social security payment automatically to make things less complicated. If you are looking to get help paying for visits to the hospital or your doctor, Original Medicare, Part A and B, is a great option. But what if you need more benefits for your health care?

Medicare Part C and Part D help pay for things beyond original Medicare. Part D is prescription drug coverage. It can exist on its own as a private plan separate from original Medicare, or as part of a Part C Advantage Plan. Part C plans group original Medicare benefits with other benefits, such as vision or dental treatment, into a single private plan.

Some Medicare Supplement Plans eliminate co-pays in favor of a monthly premium. If the cost of your medical treatment is exceptionally high, a Supplement Plan could be very beneficial to you. Supplement plans do not add benefits to your Medicare coverage, but for many people they provide the necessary coverage to make medical treatment affordable.

Regardless of what plan you end up choosing, the important thing is to compare your Medicare plan options. By comparing your options you can assure you’ll get the best coverage and save the most money.

What plan is right for you?

1. Think about What Is Important to You

Every individual has unique needs and concerns when it comes to health care coverage. Some people are most concerned about keeping their costs down. Other people prefer going to any doctor they chose. Here are some main differences among all the Medicare plans:

Different premium amounts and out of pocket costs

Choose in network or out of network doctors

Whether you need a referral to go to a specialist

Whether you can get additional benefits

Distance of travel to get to the doctor or hospital

How often you travel for business or leisure

2. Compare the Costs, Benefits, Doctor and Hospital Choice and Quality of Each Plan

Cost of BenefitsThe amount you pay for Medicare depends on a number of things:

Which Medicare plan you choose

How often you go to the doctor or hospital

Benefits AvailableAll Medicare plans offer the same basic set of benefits. Some Medicare Advantage Plan may have additional benefits.

Doctors and Hospital ChoicesThere are differences among Medicare plans in choices and how you have to pick you own doctors:

Original Medicare Plan: You can go to any doctor or hospital in the country that accepts Medicare

Medicare HMO: You usually can only go to the doctors and hospitals in that plan’s network. Some HMOs allow you to go to doctors and hospitals outside the plan network, but you may pay more.

Medicare PPO: You can go to doctors and hospitals outside the plan’s network, but you usually have to pay more.

Medicare PFFS: You can choose any doctor or hospital that accepts the plan’s payment.

Seeing a Specialist

In the Original Medicare Plan, PFFS Plans and most PPOs, you can go directly to a specialist. In Medicare HMOs, you usually are able to see a specialist only if your primary care doctor first approves your visit.

Find out the rules about getting care for each plan you are considering and be sure to ask for a list of the doctors and hospitals in each plan’s network

3. Quality of PlanInformation on the quality of care is available for the Original Medicare Plan and for Medicare HMOs on Medicare.gov.

Quality information can inform you regarding:

how easy it is to get a referral to a specialist if needed

how well doctors in the plan communicate with their patients

how well the plan does in keeping its members healthy

4. Choose the Plan That Best Suits You

After you gather information about your plan choices and have thought about what’s important to you, we will be glad to assist you by helping you find the best plan for you.